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Toll Tower on the Merwede by Jan van Goyen, 1645.

This river scene is painted in Van Goyen’s characteristic style. He painted many large cityscapes on commission, including View of Dordrecht and View of Leiden, both on display in museums in those cities. More than 1,000 paintings and 800 drawings by him are known.

What do we see?
On the left is the riverbank with what appears to be the square brick toll house of the Rotterdam Admiralty, where convoy tax and licence fees (as customs duties were then called) were collected. A man with a rifle is on the balcony. Below the balcony, four people (inspectors and boatmen of the watch) are talking. To the right of a spur on the riverbank is a rowing boat that was used by the watch and boatmen to check transport documents and goods aboard passing ships. In the distance, you can see Dordrecht with its stubby church tower. To the left of the toll house, three people are standing near a wooden climbing mast from which a brazier hangs; it is light beacon for the boatmen. Fire pots were first used for this purpose, and later oil lamps

The painting is signed with initials and dated – VG 1645 – on the left near the wooden stairs. On the riverbank in the foreground is a fish box (for live fish or crabs).

Fun fact
Van Goyen was the father-in-law of the famous painter Jan Steen. The domestic scenes Steen painted were based on the Van Goyen family home where he lived.